After 26 years of B&O ownership, the user interface on David Lewis-era devices appears natural to me. In fact, in a Masterlink scenario, necessary, even. It was interesting to see most aspects of the BS3200 reviewed on Techmoan's channel, where the user interface surprised him.
This here our beloved website makes a short appearance, by the way.
I think the video may throw some light on how non-B&O consumers of a certain age perceive the brand. His previous two videos, which were about the Beosound A1, generated, respectively, 216,000 and 140,000 views, which is low for a channel with 1.3 million subs.
We'll see how this one does.
https://youtu.be/xRWFH3tnWaY
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A new YouTube review of the BS3200
13 replies
Maybe interesting for those who want to dig a bit deeper into the thought behind the Login to view image
….or that:
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I surely would have to adapt to the UI of these monster remotes.
Please give me a clean, nice looking remote, where you can control all basic features of several devices intuitively.
I have a feeling that this classic hifi guy wants it complicated - after all it is his hobby and - probably - also his bread and butter.
MM
Location: Flensborg————Danmark
yes it is interesting to see how he reacts to the controls which is almost second nature to those of us who have used B&O equipment for several years.
But I think it's the same feeling I have when i get a remote from another brand and have to find out how to use that :-)
A little funny that he thinks that the control interface has not got much attention when in fact B&O in that period had a team dedicated to controls of their products.
Location: Denmark
I came to B&O late and as a UX designer for 25 years I can certainly feel for his issues with the UI. It's not intuitive, it for sure prioritizes design over usability and at the very least it is unfriendly from a universal language regarding interface elements such as "go" and the red power button. The radio tuner interface looks like a nightmare too.
That being said after you get used to the interface its fine. But this is a strong example of you having to adapt the the UI over it adapting to you.
Location: Toronto, Canada
I do not dispute @severed_hand_of_skywalker's perspective, but I'll say this:
The evening we purchased our first B&O and powered speakers, I remarked to my wife that the red light/green light indicators on our new speakers and CD player were genius:
Still looks perfect to me. Even our BS5 has a red dot standby light.
The evening we purchased our first B&O and powered speakers, I remarked to my wife that the red light/green light indicators on our new speakers and CD player were genius:
- red dot on each speaker, plus on the CD player: all standby.
- green light on each speaker, plus the green displays on the CD player on: all on.
- red dot button on Beo4: all standby.
Still looks perfect to me. Even our BS5 has a red dot standby light.
Imagine someone in Japan or ANY non-english country trying to use a B&O product with the word "GO" for play.
How does "go" even apply to playing music? its such a disconnect. Instead of "go" it should be the universal standard of the right facing triangle.
Why do they have a button with a circle and one with a red bar? How does one mean power and the other something else? Whats wrong with the universal icon for power thats used on every other electronic product?
I think the biggest problem is that there is no logic or prioritization in the button layout. Everything is just a grid to make it look nice.
All those 3rd party remotes are horrid looking but they all do have more logic than the layout of the Beoremote 1 which is a masterclass of the worst designed remote ever made possibly by anyone. I dare anyone to feel their way around this remote or use it in the dark.
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Location: Toronto, Canada
My family has long given me crap about how *hard* it is to use B&O equipment. My son likes to say that it is annoyingly different for the sake of being different... as in, there's no value in its differentness. I learned a long time ago that it's a waste of time to argue about UXs... people like what they like (and dislike what they dislike).
My answer to them has always been that B&O is mostly easy and intuitive if you have never used any AV equipment before. So, step 1 to learning B&O is to forget everything you already know about AV equipment. Most of these UX "standards" that Luke's hand mentions probably were not standard when B&O first decided that a red dot means "standby" and "Go" means "Play". I know my first turntable and cassette deck used "Play"... I don't recall the triangle showing up until maybe the walkman, and then it took 5 - 10 years before it became "standard" (of course, I'm getting on in years so my memory may be spotty). Having chosen their path back in the 70s, they stuck with it.
About the "no thought" on the button layout of the BeoRemote, from all the examples shown on this thread, only the B&O remotes have the numbers in a logically useful order. Everybody else goes from 1 at the top left to 9 that the bottom right. Meanwhile, B&O has 1 at the bottom left and 9 at the top right. Why does this matter? At least in my experience, I select a lot more channels that start with 1 - 3 vs. 4 - 9. Therefore, on average, my finger doesn't have to reach as far vs the "standard" numeric layout.
What an incredibly complex (but exciting!) topic to discuss. Honestly I'm surprised it hasn't come up sooner. What a great thing to investigate further as well. It would be great to hear from B&O and how some of the designers have worked with this as it has somehow been protected and coordinated very well over the years.
The logic is much deeper than most people realize.
I think the "GO" topic is important to separate here as it is more than simply a "play" button. It is more like an "enter" key especially when using a BV or more complex BeoSystem etc. However in many situations it isn't actually needed. As soon as a CD is loaded for example, all you need to do is select "CD" on the device BS/BM/Beo4 or otherwise and it plays, activates the speakers and configures the system for that function. This is one of the many simplicities I appreciate about B&O's approach here. All I need to do is press V.MEM and I can have the Apple TV showing on my BV and off I go! Same for other sources in the system.
There is some strangeness in the B&O remote / button ideology. For instance "STEP" instead of "next" / "previous" etc. but I think its important that good UX design is not simply refining existing ideas norms and going along with what the rest of the world is doing and has been doing for decades.
Its honestly hard to imagine that there is really only one company who has actually gone in a different direction from the norm and attempted to innovate.
The more I live with and use a Beo4, the more it becomes one of my favorite pieces of design ever. It has exactly the kind of balance I strive to put into my own work. Just the right amount of playful design / sculpture that is memorable (and possibly overkill) but also plenty of logic and agonizingly streamlined simplicity.
Location: San Francisco
I'm an automotive audio and acoustic engineer. I design loudspeakers and full sound systems for new automobiles. I also dabble with studio, consumer and pro audio projects from time to time.
I was surprised at how difficult or odd he found it, but I've been used to Beolink 1000 and then Beo4 for what must be over 30 years so I find other brands difficult to use. For example, the writing on a lot of remotes is too small to read and there are too many buttons. With the exception of DVD1 I have never had any problems using Beo4 or understanding B&O's language.
I think he summed it up though as he loves the buttons and metres and to know that a HiFi is a HiFi. There are a great many people out there who think like that and thank goodness or it would be a very boring world.
I'll bet now his interest has been awakened he will go onto buy more!
Location: United Kingdom
My B&O Icons:
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